Christmas Part 2

I know I'm doing this is in a random order . . . . been watching a lot of "LOST" lately if you get what I mean. If you don't know what I mean, you're just not cool. :) Or a nerd.

Before Christmas, John's mom got Charlie two "pre-Christmas" presents. The first one was Christmas PJs, which I LOVED. I wanted to get him to have a pair so badly. I was so happy to get them . . . and they're Carter's and super cute.

The second gift I wasn't as psyched about. When John's mom gave it to him, she said, "Now tell Autumn I really do love her." His name is Christmas Carl. He sings and dances. Over and over. We had to stuff him in a closet after the first five minutes because Charlie wouldn't stop making him sing.

So Christmas Eve night we spent with my family, doing the usual. We eat Chicken Velvet Soup (well, Charlie and I didn't since it was cream-based), act out the Nativity and we get to open one present. We let Charlie open a little airplane since we got him two big presents for Christmas morning. We should've saved the money and just let him have that $4 airplane because he loves that thing!

Chistmas Eve night was fun. I know this is weird, but I've always wanted to stay up late to put toys together for my kids and leave them under the tree. Even though most of my life I didn't really want to have kids, I always thought that would be fun to do. I was really excited to put together Charlie's new basketball hoop. Thing is . . . it was only pieces to snap together. It took less than four minutes. Oh well. It was fun anyway! Here's a video of Charlie checking out his big presents under the tree.

As you can imagine, the boy is totally spoiled. We got him the basketball hoop and a wagon (to keep his billions of cars in). My parents got him lots of clothes, a Chuck truck (TALKING truck, of course), a big stuffed puppy, a stuffed dino and his own MP3 boombox. My parents also do stockings and I was pleased my Mom skipped the candy (it makes him sick) and filled it with pretzels and Teddy Grahams. I know that was a sacrifice to her! :) She also put some Cars crayons and a Cars notebook in there . . . Charlie calls the notebook his "journal." It's really cute. He carries it around and has people draw pictures in it for him. I think he gets the journal thing from Smitty from "Imagination Movers." He'll open it up and every time he'll say, "Let's see." John's parents got him a shake and go Mater (whayda know, ANOTHER talking truck . . . grandparents! Oy!) and some finger puppets.

This year, I had no idea what to get John. On a last minute whim, I decided to order him a really nice Georgia watch. It was expensive, so it took up ALL of his budget. I was afraid to get him only one thing especially since John isn't a "fancy man." He's not a slob or anything, but he's just a guy's guy and doesn't care much about that kind of thing. BUT . . . he had NO idea I got it and he was really excited. I think he's proud of it because he wears it all the time. Maybe he's a "fancy man" after all . . .

John got 3 new GA shirts, a soldering iron (I know, I know . . . I'm worried too!), a Bionicle (hee!) and a bunch of stocking stuffers like an i-Tunes card and socks. He got a really nice GA hat and a suction cup basketball hoop for his office from his Dad. That basketball hoop was inspiration . . . just that morning as John played basketball with Charlie's new hoop he mentioned how he needed one for his office. Guess dads just know these things!

John got me some lounge pants (GA red!), a Ped Egg (funny, because John squeals like a girl whenever he sees the commercial with all the dead skin filings!), "LOST" season 5 DVD and "Glee" volume 1 DVD. When I opened the Glee one, I was surprised because it wasn't supposed to come out until the 29th. I flipped the box over only to see Heath Ledger in creepy clown makeup. John had printed the front of the "Glee" DVD off and stuck it in our copy of "The Dark Knight"! I got the actual DVDs a few days later . . . I love getting presents after Christmas! My parents went overboard, as usual. I got lots of great stocking goodies (no candy, thank you Mom! I know that was hard . . . it seriously breaks her heart to not give out candy). I got LOST season 4, a hoodie, some shoes, "Singin' in the Rain" on DVD, a great flat iron/straightener (which I learned how to curl with . . . I'm so proud of myself!) and shopping money. It was quite a haul . . . I got everything I could've wanted and more. We are just too too spoiled, man.

In John's family, we pull names. Sarah had me and she got me lotion, body spray and bath gel from Bath and Body Works in my favorite scent: Irresistable Apple. It's Country Apple's sexy cousin. :D John had Scott and his present didn't go so well. My sister recommended getting gift cards from a site called Restaurant.com. We got them $50 in gift cards for a good deal. Come to find out, some of the restaurants make you pay at least $25 before you can use it. WHAT?! I was so furious and embarrassed about that. So avoid restaurant.com if you can . . . . it's a total waste.

I pulled John's Great Aunt Hilda. I was really excited about that because I could make her something and I knew she's love it. She loves birds, so I made her some embossed stationary, some tea towels (I stamped "flour sack" towels and sewed a little stitch on the bottom) and made her a purse out of a bird-watching book. I'll have more on those book purses later . . . I've got tons of pictures of some I've made. It's a craft I love and I'm super excited about. Anyway, I knew Aunt Hilda would appreciate anything I made, but she really went nuts over the purse. She said I made her Christmas. It made the work even more worth it.

Finally, here are some cards I made during the Christmas season. Whew! We got quite a haul and feel very blessed and love. Yet, I'm really relieved the holiday season is OVER! Hope you had a good one. :) Here's a Christmas message from Charlie that I intended to put on facebook but never got around to it. Enjoy!